The Key for Startups: Make No Small Plans

You’ve got a great idea — but how do you turn it into a winning business? On this podcast, Luke Fox and Jef Graham will show you how to be a successful startup CEO  offering insights for first-time company leaders surrounding products, personal leadership, people management, key metrics, and more. It’s time to get to work.

 

Startup CEOs have a full plate. There’s little time for activities that don’t have value. Measurement and focusing on the management cycle deliver tremendous value. Offering insights on these topics, The Startup CEO’s third episode, hosted by Luke Fox, included a new conversation with his mentor, Jef Graham. Graham is a four-time startup CEO and has a long career of executive leadership success.

“Facts always beat opinions. The demonstration of that is that CEOs should always have certain numbers at their fingertips—sales, cash raised, valuations, people, and data on your customers and market.” – Jef Graham

Graham began the chat with some quotes that are relevant, including making no small plans and to measure is to know. So, what are the metrics that matter the most? “Tech startups are all about invention and growth, so the top-line measure is the growth of customers and report orders,” he said.

Graham further noted that “cash is king in startup”; thus, the CEO must watch to ensure they don’t run out of it.

Knowing the numbers and the data are critical for CEO startups. “Facts always beat opinions. The demonstration of that is that CEOs should always have certain numbers at their fingertips—sales, cash raised, valuations, people, and data on your customers and market.” Graham shared.

Relating to the world of metrics is the management cycle. Graham described it as “a series of processes that form rhythmic patterns at annual, quarterly, monthly, and weekly intervals.” He then explained the different planning cycles for each. Annually, there are financial planning goals, long-term strategy, and salary and reviews. Monthly is forecasting orders and expenses.

The management cycle includes objective setting. “Set quarterly objectives. Measure results, not actions. Objectives shouldn’t be a job responsibly list but be tangible goals. Focus on five to 10 and ask yourself, ‘If I achieve these goals, would this be success?’ The answer should be yes,” Graham said.

Follow us on social media for the latest updates in B2B!

Twitter – @MarketScale
Facebook – facebook.com/marketscale
LinkedIn – linkedin.com/company/marketscale

Follow us on social media for the latest updates in B2B!

Image

Latest

Hospitality
Say “Yes” More: How Hospitality Can Win with Heart-First Leadership
July 2, 2025

As the hospitality industry emerges from years of pandemic-driven upheaval, leaders are looking for new ways to retain staff, elevate guest satisfaction, and drive revenue without burning out their teams. One trend gaining traction is the power of “Yes”: empowering employees to say yes more often, guided by creativity and compassion. According to a…

Read More
civic leadership
Mayor Gerard Hudspeth’s Civic Leadership Journey: What Politics Teaches About People
July 2, 2025

What does a mayor learn about human nature? In this episode of Professional Quotient: Conversations that Build Equity, host Jason Winningham sits down with Gerard Hudspeth, longtime mayor of Denton, Texas, and a respected figure in civic leadership. Drawing from his years in public service, Hudspeth explores how leading a city reveals the core…

Read More
sepsis
Debunking Sepsis Myths – Episode 1
July 1, 2025

In the first episode of The Michael Rothman podcast, we address misconceptions about sepsis in healthcare. Although it’s often claimed that sepsis accounts for nearly a third of hospital deaths, many of these deaths are linked to chronic conditions with sepsis as a secondary factor. The frequently cited statistic that delays in treating sepsis increase…

Read More
community building
Community Building Through Marketing—Powered by Showing Up and Staying Open
July 1, 2025

In this episode of Professional Quotient: Conversations That Build Equity, host Jason Winningham sits down with Alicia Layfield, founder of Casa Layfield, a boutique marketing agency in Houston, Texas. Alicia shares how she built her business from the ground up—not by following a perfect plan, but by showing up, staying open, and turning connections…

Read More